Protect/Shell (Buff Spells) Revamp Needed Please!

Again,

~Spell Duration~

Protect, Shell, Shock Spikes, etc need to last longer. 5mins is too short. 10-15 mins would be great!

~AOE Range~

Also, the range needs to be widened when buff spells are set to AOE because with this game being unlike the camping, unmoving tactical camps of FFXI, it is hard to make sure that your buffs reach every party member when your party is constantly running around.

~Casting Time~

Why do these spells take so long to cast? If the range cannot be adjusted (and I dont see why it couldnt/shouldnt be) reducing the casting time for these spells would be lovely!

~Spell Canceling~

Um why can't we do this?? Make it so please...

Thanks,

Sin

In no particular order:

Spell Cancelling, absolutely.

AOE Range, in my opinion, is fine. I see how the issue you've raised about the less static nature of parties in this game could be a problem with the current AOE range but, honestly, the only problem I have with buffs not reaching everyone is because after I have said "gather together for buffs" some people don't listen. In which case the fault lies with the people, not the system. I think you'll find that a responsive party can easily overcome any shortcomings in AOE range perceived or otherwise.

As far as spell duration is concerned I'm not sure what the issue is? Is it that it causes serious MP management issues to recast it more often? or is it just tedious?

Casting time, also, other than Stoneskin, I personally don't see an issue with so won't address the point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AngryNixon

In no particular order:

Spell Cancelling, absolutely.

AOE Range, in my opinion, is fine. I see how the issue you've raised about the less static nature of parties in this game could be a problem with the current AOE range but, honestly, the only problem I have with buffs not reaching everyone is because after I have said "gather together for buffs" some people don't listen. In which case the fault lies with the people, not the system. I think you'll find that a responsive party can easily overcome any shortcomings in AOE range perceived or otherwise.

As far as spell duration is concerned I'm not sure what the issue is? Is it that it causes serious MP management issues to recast it more often? or is it just tedious?

Casting time, also, other than Stoneskin, I personally don't see an issue with so won't address the point.

---

I think he means the recast time? So that if you miss some people with your protect, you can cast it again. Recast on Stoneskin is reasonable, recast on protect and shell longer than say 10sec is just a hinderance. If you could recast soon after missing some people, it would not matter except for the little MP you have to waste.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sinistradian

Again,

~Spell Duration~

Protect, Shell, Shock Spikes, etc need to last longer. 5mins is too short. 10-15 mins would be great!

I do think shock spikes/stygian spikes should have the same duration as protect/shell, with 5 min duration, maybe 7 minuts 30 sec. shock spike II, stygian spikes II, shell II, and protect II, could then be 10-50 min.

~AOE Range~

Also, the range needs to be widened when buff spells are set to AOE because with this game being unlike the camping, unmoving tactical camps of FFXI, it is hard to make sure that your buffs reach every party member when your party is constantly running around.

Range is fine, I fail to find any true issues here, at this point, with everything going on, this is just a nit picky thing to mention.
~Casting Time~

Why do these spells take so long to cast? If the range cannot be adjusted (and I dont see why it couldnt/shouldnt be) reducing the casting time for these spells would be lovely!

Casting times are just fune, again, with all the real issues, this is ridiculos to mention.

~Spell Canceling~

Um why can't we do this?? Make it so please...

Umm, why would we need to??? if you need to cancel it, then you shouldn't of cast it in the first place.

Thanks,

Sin

---

So, yeah the duration adjustment possibly has true validity, the rest I really think is just such a limited value, that it is not worth dev time at this point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sinistradian

Again,

~Spell Duration~

Protect, Shell, Shock Spikes, etc need to last longer. 5mins is too short. 10-15 mins would be great!

~AOE Range~

Also, the range needs to be widened when buff spells are set to AOE because with this game being unlike the camping, unmoving tactical camps of FFXI, it is hard to make sure that your buffs reach every party member when your party is constantly running around.

~Casting Time~

Why do these spells take so long to cast? If the range cannot be adjusted (and I dont see why it couldnt/shouldnt be) reducing the casting time for these spells would be lovely!

~Spell Canceling~

Um why can't we do this?? Make it so please...

Thanks,

Sin

---

In order:

Spell Duration: Totally agree with this, with the constant moving it gets really tedious doing this over and over. Personally I think it should be closer to 15-20 min, but ya I agree it does need to be at least 5 min longer then what its at now.

AoE Range: Hmm if you go in line with the constantly moving, ya I think it should be a circle AoE as CON is, but the range should be much longer.

Casting Time: This I do not agree with, for the 5 min portion now the cast time is still quick if you got fast cast trait. Now if they increase it to a longer duration, then I think increasing the cast time would make more sense. However, ATM I do think the cast time is fine for the 5 minute duration.

Spell Canceling: You can already do this, when your casting your spell ya just have to instigate the spell again and it cancels it(basically cast it 2 times) Though they do have a canceling system its not that good. Should have a key we can use for canceling it, like "Esc" key.

I personally like it the way it is now except for spell canceling.
Sometimes I just want to cast a spell "Fast enough" that I end up cancelling it by casting 2x.
It gets really annoying specially with fast casting spells (after buffing).

i personally would love a larger AoE range. it does get rather annoying when you start casting buffs and theres always that one person that runs off. As far as spell duration, it would be nice as well. In the meantime, i tend to use roaming soul for my protect.

The only thing I agree with here is buff duration. Shockspikes can be short, as well as Stoneskin, but Protect and Shell should definitely last at least 20 mins, if not longer. What was it in XI, 30 mins? That seems reasonable to me as well, it gets very annoying having to constantly recast and I have a feeling that melee players would be much more willing to "gather together" for buffs if they only had to do it ever 30 mins or so. I know when I ranked up my melee jobs, I got very annoyed, almost as annoyed as the mage is, of constantly having to get new buffs. So def on Pro and Shell getting longer duration. Everything else is fine I think.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Albio

The only thing I agree with here is buff duration. Shockspikes can be short, as well as Stoneskin, but Protect and Shell should definitely last at least 20 mins, if not longer. What was it in XI, 30 mins? That seems reasonable to me as well, it gets very annoying having to constantly recast and I have a feeling that melee players would be much more willing to "gather together" for buffs if they only had to do it ever 30 mins or so. I know when I ranked up my melee jobs, I got very annoyed, almost as annoyed as the mage is, of constantly having to get new buffs. So def on Pro and Shell getting longer duration. Everything else is fine I think.

---

I think the duration in FFXI was related to your "enhancement magic" skill, so it could be shorter or longer depending on who casted it. Not 100% sure though.

I think the recast times for Protect and Shell are perfectly fine. It's Stoneskin that's the problem as it comes off of a character really easily after little damage/only a few hits so it should be buffed so it's actually useful. It hardly reduces damage as is.

The AOE range is pitiful, IMO. I duo a lot with my friend, and one of us is constantly missing a buff because he'll move at the last second. He didn't even move that far, but it still misses one of us. :( The duration should be at least 10 minutes, too.

well for now all we have is Roaming Soul which will give you an 8.5 min protect shell and stoneskin and around 4 min shock spikes only thing is you need to figure how you wanna do it. like a minute recast so i usually do protect, shell, stoneskin, roaming soul + shock spikes so all are near 5 mins for short stuff, if im in a long party when recast is up after a minute i will roaming soul + protect, wait again, roaming soul shell, stoneskin not really worth it since it doesnt last anyway

you can cancel any spell by using it again during the casting time.

Buffs are perfectly fine, any longer and basically we become useless as a support class, i've seen games like flyff where buffs last for like 30 minutes to an hour, and support clasess basically get invited to parties, get buffs, then kicked for more damage dealers or a healer, etc...

If Protect and Shell can't even last a Leve that's 2 levels lower than yourself, then that is too short.
Honestly.
Is it needed? nope, but it's just stupid.

My Attacks have bigger AoE range, while my buffs have nearly nothing it seems (Could be wrong, but I always mistake it, because I compare the distance to the other. Like Protect range, based on Fire AoE range.)

With such a HUGE cool down (1min, seriously? it's not even that strong, why is it so long?)
Length of casting is annoying, but only a problem in endgame fights. (Since I'm not there, I have no real complaints.)

Canceling is already in the game. (Didn't read the whole thread, but I'm sure someone mentioned it already.)

Personally I never got why Healers and Tanks in MMOs, are given 'short buffs' for the sake of keeping them busy...
that's like throwing a large exp curve to level... to keep them busy...
why not keep them busy with FUN?!
like, let them deal damage, that ALSO helps them do their job, in between main abilities.
and if it's going to be short buffs, better darn well make it both fun AND potent.
Like utsusemi. (GD that was the best buff in an MMO ive ever seen. both fun and potent.)

If protect was closer to utsusemi (for 1 ally target, or heck, AoE even) that would be pretty crazy for an MMO.

EDIT: read this

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zeref

you can cancel any spell by using it again during the casting time.

Buffs are perfectly fine, any longer and basically we become useless as a support class, i've seen games like flyff where buffs last for like 30 minutes to an hour, and support clasess basically get invited to parties, get buffs, then kicked for more damage dealers or a healer, etc...

---

Considering you can swap abilities in, use the buff, then swap em out, I figured this is why SE did this in the 1st place.
BUT, considering BUFF classes are more of a hindrance, there should only be 3 roles, where all 3 roles 'support' in some way.
(Reference to Buffing being a problem, look to http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post422308 )

I've not seen this suggested here yet, but has anyone thought of making Protect and Shell into short duration cooldowns? A large-range AOE with a 10-30 second duration that halves damage of the appropriate type, then has a 3 minute (or other relatively long) recast timer. As it is currently all damage is based around having protect and shell up, so its not a buff at all, its simply a penalty for NOT having it. By doing this and re-balancing damage around not having the consistent buff, healers get an emergency support button to push before predictable damage events (ifirit's explosion, for example) and are relieved of the constant buffing burden.

I totally agree that Protect and Shell are too short but the Spikes in my opinion are perfectly fine duration, if not better then I expected.

As for AoE, yeah and no. I suppose what Ranka has said and same with Casting Time.

Cancelling needs to be improved but it is there (as people already pointed out). A nice hotkey or something like Esc or a controller button, would be cool if they added it.